WNBA free agency: 3 priorities for the Chicago Sky after trading Angel Reese
CHICAGO — Chicago Sky fans still might be reeling from Monday’s blockbuster trade of All-Star forward Angel Reese. But the wheel keeps turning in the WNBA. On Wednesday, the league opened a three-day window for free-agent negotiations, allowing teams to make their first (legal) contact with a slew of talent ranging from former MVPs to crucial bench performers.
More than 80% of the league is out of contract because of the collective bargaining negotiations that dominated the offseason and resulted in a new agreement that will increase the salary cap nearly fivefold to $7 million and raise the average salary above $500,000. The Sky need to strike gold this week. After trading Reese for two future first-round picks, they have only three players under contract: center Kamilla Cardoso, forward Maddy Westbeld and guard Hailey Van Lith.
All three are on rookie scale contracts, which gives the Sky plenty of cap space to navigate this new version of WNBA spending. Here are three priorities for the Sky in free agency: New star power The Sky need a star. No one on their current roster, even Cardoso, is remotely close to an All-Star level, barring an astronomic increase in production.
And while the Sky need to focus on building out consistency in the aggregate, they also could use a jump start. The Sky struggled to land superstars in prior years, but the new CBA adds a new weapon to their arsenal: the allure of a maximum contract. Last season, the league’s maximum salary was just under $215,000.
Now a maximum contract would be worth $1. 19 million in 2026 — and that number will grow in coming seasons. The low previous ceiling often wasn’t enough to sway top players on the free-agent market; for instance, in 2022 the top-paid player on the Sky roster (Kahleah Copper) made only $65,000 more than the sixth-highest-paid player (Allie Quigley).
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